The present disclosure relates generally to side impact or rollover inflatable curtain airbags and, more particularly, to apparatuses for deploying such airbags with variable trajectories.
Various side impact or rollover airbags (often called curtain or side curtain airbags) are utilized in motor vehicles to provide cushioning between the side of a vehicle and an occupant. Side curtain airbags may be stored near a roofline of a vehicle and, upon an activation event, may be inflated and deployed to a position between an occupant and the side of the vehicle. Vehicle sensors may be used to detect activation events and trigger an inflator to rapidly fill a curtain with air. Because of the positions of the airbag assembly, vehicle structure, and occupants, side curtain airbags are often required to be inflated in a particular trajectory towards a deployed position.
Folding a curtain with a particular pattern has been utilized in attempts to control the trajectory of side curtain airbags, but due to vehicle and curtain geometry it may remain difficult to control the trajectory of certain portions of a curtain within a side curtain airbag assembly.